A Stowaway

There's a good reason for all this frantic activity in our life the past couple of months. We were spending time with family and friends, completing projects, and sorting through stuff because we are already on our way to Arizona for the winter. You read that right. We finished loading this morning, hooked up our tightly packed car to the tightly packed RV, and drove to Carlinville where we are now parked at our favorite W&M Campground! We plan to spend the next couple of days visiting family and friends before heading southwest for the winter.

We are so excited to get there and continue settling in to make it our home away from home and especially to see Sandee, Shawn, and our grands again! Mary cooked us a great dinner, Rich is already asleep, and I will be in about ten minutes; we are exhausted!

When Rich brought the RV over to our house on Tuesday to start loading, he noticed a stowaway on the passenger side RV mirror. Isn't it something?

Even though the picture above is cropped, you can see here that it is pretty big spider. See where it's living, under and inside that mirror? Anyone know what kind it is? It rode there all the way down to Carlinville, 220 miles so we're wondering if it will still be living in and on that mirror when we get to AZ. What do you think the chances are? Smart spider I'd say, hiding away on a ride to warmer climes for the winter!

Lovin' Life ~~ Enchanted By Our Stowaway

The RV Show

It is dreary and cold and has rained all day and will rain all night and has been mostly gray for days...give me snow any day over this.

Friday we went to the Chicago RV Show in Rosemont. Some good news: lots of vendors and lots of attendees...lots more than there were two years ago when we were last there. My main interest was in finding RV parks within a day's drive from home for some shorter getaways and there were many campgrounds represented this year.

I love looking at new motorhomes and kidded Rich for days beforehand about finding one with even more enhancements than the one we bought last August. And there were...enhancements that is. Some had HUGE French Door Refrigerators with bottom freezers...drool. Some had eliminated the gas oven which adds a kitchen cabinet...always useful. With a combination microwave/convection oven, I really don't need an oven. Some have vinyl or tile flooring throughout the living area...we'll surely replace our carpet at some point. But none had all of those things in one RV. So, the great news was that we did not see even one, not even a really expensive one, that we would trade our cozy motorhome for!

I had to pull up this collage to remind myself what our looks like. Rich spends a lot of time over there redesigning and replacing systems to meet his exacting standards or running it to keep things charged (??? I don't know the right words), but I rarely go with him.

We are counting down the days until we leave on our next trip...18...and we both have long lists of tasks to accomplish by then...SO EXCITING!!! As much as I have enjoyed being home this winter and have loved all the snow we had, it's time to move on for a while...the road is calling.

Lovin' Life ~~ Ready to Meander

Bev

"We" are Teammates!

Unless you are new here, you already know how loosely I use the word "we" as it refers to any tasks or accomplishments. Yesterday "we" went to the RV storage lot to work on the wiring and system panels project that "we" have designed. This is what the work looked like. Rich did this...

and this...

While I sat in the van taking photos and playing Solitaire...simultaneously to boot! I am gifted like that.

Since we had some shopping errands to run in that area, accompanying him saved him so much time and driving...and I kept the van warm so that he could occasionally thaw out his fingers...what a considerate and helpful teammate he has!

Lovin' Life ~~ And Tasks "We" Share

  Bev 

Halloween Collage

Here's the short version...I have a long list of tasks that must be accomplished before I sleep tonight but instead, here's what I just did with a collage of the kids. I just had to share it with y'all.

And Rich says I have no short stories...haha

Lovin' Life ~~ and Picnik

  Bev 

The Mother Road ~~ As We Have Traveled It

The final installment, completing our Wednesday OKC sightseeing trifecta...Route 66 Park near Lake Overholser.

There is a plaza at this park with a miniature Mother Road depicting prominent towns along Historic Route 66. Oklahoma has more miles of Rte 66 than any other state and claims that the road is also in better shape there than any other state.

Since we have driven alongside much of Rte 66 on this trip and stayed in several of the towns displayed here, we really enjoyed seeing this display.

Here we go...from downtown Chicago (I LOVE the black granite columns used to represent Chicago!) to the pier in Santa Monica, California.

An RV Park near this Missouri town is our home tonight...

A view of Rte 66 from Oklahoma City to Chicago...

Amarillo...wouldn't you love to see another photo of Cadillac Ranch? teehee

At Flagstaff, AZ we switched roads to head south into Phoenix which was our destination this trip. The Mother Road, however, goes on to the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica, CA.

Now isn't this just the coolest thing we've seen since our visit to Mudd Island in Memphis to walk along the scale model of the Mississippi River?

Today was simply a driving day as we traveled back through the rest of Oklahoma and into Missouri which has given me this day to get caught up on all I wanted to share with you. Tomorrow evening we will arrive at the W&M Campground where we'll be back home with family.

Lovin' Life ~~ and the Surprises that Await in Every Town

  Bev 

OKC Museum of Art

The second stop on our OKC sightseeing Wednesday was the Museum of Art. Driving around looking for a post office the night before, we noticed a tower of Chihuly glass (55 feet tall!!!) in the atrium lobby of this museum. When Rich was looking at the list of things to do in OKC the next morning, he read that they have the largest permanent Chihuly collection of any museum in the country.

We would not miss any opportunity to view a collection of his glass and take photos for our grands. Jackson, Dylan, and Shelby still reminisce often, sharing their critique of his art and of walking through endless cacti gardens, about the day that we took them to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. The topic is a source of endless amusement.

Here is the atrium piece...

And several of our favorite pieces in the museum collection...

                                                                    A favorite of mine...

Oh look, kids! We also saw colorful bowls, the orange Tiger Lilies, and boats filled with glass balls and tendrils similar to those displayed throughout the Desert Botanical Garden when we were there...don't you just love it???? chuckle...chuckle

But the most amazing piece of all was the Chihuly Waterford Crystal Chandelier, one of only two in the world that he had made in 1996 by glassblowers and etchers at the Waterford Crystal factory in Ireland.

Of course we toured other galleries in the museum while we were there. The kids will also get a kick out of this. Do you think Grandpa was hollering at other patrons to "get over here and buy some flowers?" For those who are wondering, he and Shelby have worked the flower shop or cart at several children's museums, to our great amusement.

It's a great little art museum and we would encourage you to take a couple of hours to stroll through its galleries the next time you're Meandering through Oklahoma City.

Lovin' Life ~~ and Art Glass

  Bev 

OKC Bombing Memorial

With the only element common to all three being that they are located in Oklahoma City, I am going to post three separate entries, one for each of the OKC sights we visited.

While there, we wanted to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial on the site where the Alfred P. Murrah Building stood before being bombed on April 19, 1995. It is a touchingly simple and powerfully emotional memorial to the victims, their families, and all who were exposed to the horror of that day. I was deeply moved by its beauty and the symbolism of each of its elements.

This plaque stands to the side at each end of the Reflecting Pool.

                   Field of Empty Chairs

A remaining wall section of the original building.

Field of Empty Chairs                      

Looking west across the Reflecting Pool. The white statue of Jesus, And Jesus Wept, stands across the street on the spot where a Catholic church was nearly demolished by the blast. The Church built that but there is street construction so I couldn't get any decent shots of that touching and symbolic memorial. The second photo looks eastward across the Reflecting Pool.

Rescuers Orchard across the Reflecting Pool from the Field of Empty Chairs

The Survivor Tree

There is much information about this Memorial online with descriptions of the meaning behind each of the elements. The most poignant for me is the story about The Survivor Tree and how, to this day, they are using it to inspire hope in the face of horror wherever it occurs.

Lovin' Life ~~ Yet Remembering

  Bev 

Two Days ~ Just Driving

Returning home by the same route we drove out, there is little to share about scenery along the way. Monday and Tuesday we rode in silence most of the time. The one bright spot was a call from the kids who, with two days left before going back to school, were also feeling a bit lost without us and the girls.

Apparently antelope herds are moving down for the winter. Driving along I-40 through New Mexico we saw several small herds (in two of the photos below), often grazing alongside cattle and again enjoyed the colorful terrain as we passed.

We spent Monday night in Tucumcari (remember...I love the sound of that name?) and then drove slightly past Oklahoma City to a KOA in Choctaw, OK where we stayed until this morning.

There was even less to see on Tuesday's drive through the Texas Panhandle so here is Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo...for the third time, right?

The girls have simply been morose. Bella would not even come out from under the table when called one evening and at one point Dora stood staring at me lightly moaning. They have really missed all the attention and activity at the Crane home and the kids really miss them...aaaaawww.

After we got into Oklahoma we saw this wonderful yellow bridge on Historic Rte 66 that parallels I-40, lots of pretty views of their red dirt, and lovely cotton fields loaded with brilliant tufts of white.

Oklahoma City though was a different story. We took a day to sightsee and I may have to break that experience into three separate posts! Who knew?

Lovin' Life ~~ Movin' On

  Bev